CEO Of EpiCor Joins Interwest as Venture Partner; Med Tech Team Expands to Address Growing Health Care Industry.Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K MENLO PARK Menlo Park. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 28,040), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. Electronic equipment and aerospace products are manufactured in the city. Menlo College and a Stanford Univ. research institute are there. 2 Uninc. , Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 8, 2001 InterWest Partners (http://www.InterWest.com), a leading diversified Venture Capital firm, has announced that Michael Sweeney, 50, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of EpiCor, Inc., has joined the firm as a Venture Partner in the Med Tech group. In this role, Mr. Sweeney Mr. Sweeney (played by Don Creech) is Ned and Moze's evil science teacher in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, whose character has been toned down a bit since season one. He treats his students rather harshly, and many consider him insane. will focus on early stage investment opportunities in the fast-growing medical technology sector. The company also announced the promotion of Chris Ehrlich, 30, to the position of Senior Associate. In addition, InterWest will add Stanford radiation oncologist radiation oncologist Radiation therapist A radiologist specialized in using radioactive substances and x-rays to treat tumors and CA; an oncologist who uses various formats of radiation to manage CA Salary ± $200K. See Oncologist. Susan Knox, M.D., Ph.D. and Genentech molecular biologist Larry Lasky, Ph.D. as team consultants. These changes reflect InterWest's continued commitment to building a world class health care investment practice with seasoned talent from key industry sectors. "These appointments mark the continued strengthening of our firm as we begin the next stage of our growth," said Gil Kliman, M.D., General Partner. "Each person's deep domain experience will enable InterWest to continue to lead the industry in identifying, validating, and funding innovative health care technologies." Sweeney Joins InterWest As a Venture Partner, Mr. Sweeney will source and lead new investments in medical technology, as well as serve on the board of directors of InterWest portfolio companies. Mr. Sweeney was a medical device entrepreneur-in-residence at InterWest in 1998, and in 1999 became founding CEO of EpiCor, an InterWest portfolio company focused on medical devices to treat atrial fibrillation atrial fibrillation Irregular rhythm (arrhythmia) of contraction of the atria (upper heart chambers). The most common major arrhythmia, it may result as a consequence of increased fibrous tissue in the aging heart, of heart disease, or in association with severe infection. , a common and potentially life-threatening heart disorder. Also a founder of the highly successful InterWest portfolio company Ventritex, Mr. Sweeney has pioneered multiple anti-arrhythmia cardiac devices, and has more than 20 years' experience in the field of cardiovascular technology. Ehrlich Advances In his new role, Mr. Ehrlich will have expanded responsibilities with the Med Tech team to build new businesses around entrepreneurs with novel ideas in biotechnology, medical devices and healthcare software and services. Prior to joining InterWest last year, he was Director, Licensing & Business Development at Purdue Pharma Purdue Pharma L.P., is privately-held pharmaceutical company founded by physicians. It is located in Stamford, Connecticut. Purdue is best known for painkillers, but they have also branched into other areas such as oncology and nutraceuticals. , a multinational pharmaceutical firm based in Norwalk, CT. Prior to joining Purdue, Mr. Ehrlich worked in business development at Genentech, Inc., in international venture capital at the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City-based U.S.-Russia Investment Fund, and in health care strategy consulting at LEK Consulting. Mr. Ehrlich earned a Masters of Management degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1998 and an A.B. cum laude cum lau·de adv. & adj. With honor. Used to express academic distinction: graduated cum laude; 25 cum laude graduates. , from Dartmouth College Dartmouth College, at Hanover, N.H.; coeducational; chartered 1769, opened 1770, the ninth colonial college (see Wheelock, Eleazar). Originally a men's college, Dartmouth began admitting women in 1972. in 1992. In their new capacities, Sweeney and Ehrlich will join seasoned general partners, Arnold Oronsky, Ph.D. and Gil Kliman, M.D. in identifying novel investment opportunities in the life sciences field. About InterWest InterWest Partners, founded in 1979, is a leading diversified Venture Capital firm focused on building long-term relationships with entrepreneurs and portfolio companies. With $1.6B capital under management, Interwest's experienced partners bring together deep domain knowledge in medical technology, telecommunications and software. InterWest takes a long term, collaborative approach to venture funding, providing early stage and ongoing enlightened capital, management coaching and access to a broad network of resources. Examples of the firm's previous investments include ArthroCare Corporation, CIENA Corporation, Copper Mountain Networks, Inc., Corixa, Cor Therapeutics, Coulter Pharmaceutical, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Stratacom (subsequently acquired by Cisco), Lightera Networks (subsequently acquired by Ciena), PercuSurge (subsequently acquired by Medtronic), Silicon Graphics, SiTera, Ventritex (subsequently acquired by St. Jude Medical St. Jude Medical, Inc. NYSE: STJ is a $2.9 billion global cardiovascular device company, with headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. The company sells products in more than 100 countries and has over 20 operations and manufacturing facilities worldwide. ), and Xilinx, Inc. InterWest Partners has offices in Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city in San Mateo County, California in the United States of America. It is located at latitude 37°29' North, longitude 122°9' East. Menlo Park had 30,785 inhabitants as of the 2000 U.S. Census. and Dallas, Texas. |
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